Our story
London New Zealand Cricket Club was founded in December 1951 at a meeting at New Zealand House, held, the story goes, in the middle of one of London's great pea-souper fogs. Trevor Campbell, then Public Relations Officer at the New Zealand High Commission, had noticed two things: that New Zealanders working in the capital were much improved by a weekend of cricket in the country, and that Britain's goodwill towards New Zealand after the war opened a lot of pavilion doors.
With his neighbour John Ferguson and the support of Errol Holmes, who had captained MCC's 1935-36 tour and sat on the MCC committee, Campbell invited more than 200 New Zealanders in London to join. High Commissioner Sir Frederick Doidge gave his blessing, MCC gave theirs, and the club's first season was played in 1952. Roger Blunt, a former New Zealand captain, was the first Club Captain and Holmes the first President.
The objective written down then still holds: to give members the opportunity to play and enjoy cricket in the home of the game, and to meet socially.
Since then the club has marked its Golden Jubilee (2002) and Diamond Jubilee (2012) at The Oval, spawned branch clubs in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and been hosted at an annual function by the New Zealand High Commission every year since the 1960s. Ripley Cricket Club, first played in 1952, is the one fixture that has survived from the very first season.
